Free The Eventide Child by C.A Hines

distant, echo it felt now as if she had known this voice for all eternity.
    “So what will we do at this fort?” Alexandra asked, slowly stepping onto the dock. Cass followed close behind her, flocking to Alexandra’s side. Titus brought up the rear as he dismissed his crew but made sure to tell them not to wander too far.
    “Well. That’s a bit of a trick, see. We’ve got to make sure you’re safe first, then we’ll probably bring ya up to speed on certain important bits. Unfortunately, we cannot simply coronate ya. One, you’re still a spot too young. And two, ya lack the required instruments.” The woman spoke in a quiet voice, and Alexandra listened. Titus didn’t seem to pay any mind to the conversation, he was too busy looking for treachery.
    “What do you mean instruments?” Alexandra asked
    “Well, you weren’t born in the purple and nobody knows who ya are outside of us. That creates a bit of a problem in the line of succession. We’ve got to legitimize your position, see?” Cass muttered, eyes keeping a keen watch over them as they continued down the crowded street.
    She paused at those words. Legitimacy. Right. She had gone from the trueborn daughter of a Legionnaire—a simple shepherd girl—to the illbegotten daughter of an Emperor. How quickly the tides had changed. She longed for the homestead again.
    Press on.
    “So what do we need?” she finally asked.
    “The Imperial Regalia. Worn by Emperor Septimius Secundus, the Great Unifier. Technically the shiny things that used to belong to your great-great-great grandfather. None have really needed the regalia ‘til now, but it’s said that only someone of true Imperial blood will be able to retrieve ‘em. Men have died on this quest. Hell, half the claimants clamored off on their great quests only to get their heads lobbed off. The Regalia has a magic nature to it, in that only those that actually have Imperial blood can use it. It rejects anyone else, supposedly.”
    That’s because the Regalia is fiercely guarded.
    “So the Regalia is fiercely guarded, then?” She echoed the words that had drifted into her mind. Her speech gave paused to Cass, the woman turning to face Alexandra.
    “That’s ... most definitely the case, yes. Is there something I should know?” Those emerald eyes seemed to peer into her very soul, but her own eyes did not waiver.
    Do not speak the truth to her. She need not know yet.
    “No ... nothing,” Alexandra replied, head shaking. “I just figured if all of these men had gone off and died, surly there must be some great peril. Especially since you said we had to prepare.” It was an elegant explanation, and for a moment it seemed to waylay Cass’s suspicion.
    Titus, however, gave a grunt from behind them. “That’ll be the truth. I heard a great monster most foul was guardin’ the Regalia. Heck, I’ve even heard that the Emperor became an undead spirit, his Praetorian Guard standing eternal, undying vigil over the Regalia as he plots to overthrow the whole of society.”
    It was obvious Titus thought little of these stories, his voice shifting and changing to dramatize the retellings. It even made her giggle the way he carried on, his final act resulting in him plunging a fake sword into his chest and feigning death.
    “That’ll be quite enough, Titus,” Cass chided him.
    “Jupiter’s beard, don’t they teach the Frumentarii to have fun?” Titus said.
    “No,” Cass replied without pause. Though Cass had been entirely serious in her reply, Alexandra couldn’t seem to help but laugh. It was nice to be able to laugh. Moments like these had been few and far between for Alexandra ever since her journey to Tripolis. Petros. Was he still alive? Should she even still think of him as her father? He raised her. He quieted her fears. He taught her so much, but now her position had taken her far from his side. It was cruel that she was saved while others were not.
    It is foolish to feel guilt for surviving.